Filling out a college application can be stressful. One aspect of the process that many students find difficult is writing a college admission essay. Not just a test of your writing skills, the essay provides college admissions officials with a better idea of who you are, your potential as a college student and what is motivating you to pursue a degree.

Many students can take advantage of workshops and events to help them write their essays. Often, high schools work together with colleges to host functions such as the one being organized by Toledo Public Schools (TPS) to help students with their college applications.

"The main thing is we need to get the students thinking about it early," Virgie Hamrick, a guidance counsellor with TPS, told the Toledo Blade newspaper. "It’s the same thing with graduation. We have to get them thinking this is not just a dream, it is an expectation."

Elizabeth Benedict, a fiction writer, wrote in an article for the Huffington Post that high schoolers who are writing their college admission essays need to focus on engaging the reader and finding their voice when trying to summarize their educational and career goals. Benedict advises seniors to begin as though they were writing an email to someone they know.